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Have you ever been to Sherwood, Calf Pasture, Compo, Bradley Point, or Jennings on a summer weekend? They are crowded.
They never look like it from the water. Some people are congregated around the beach pavilions but the rest are large stretches of sparsely crowded beach area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WestRiverTraveler
That sounds like something for the towns to arrange for themselves. Killingworth gets Clinton beach access. I'm not crying any tears for those poor New Canaan residents.
North Stamford and backcountry Greenwich aren't seperate towns while New Canaan is , and landlocked, so I didn't really get the point of that.
Trust me most in New Canaan don't care anyway, it's lint on the shoulder, they have Nantucket and St. Barths.
They never look like it from the water. Some people are congregated around the beach pavilions but the rest are large stretches of sparsely crowded beach area.
Sherwood gets so filled they have to close sometimes. I don’t know what to tell you.
It is no different in Milford, Madison, Niantic, or any beach area. 6/half a dozen.
If Bill 6650 passes, they'll only be able to charge up to double whatever the cheap resident rates are. I imagine the beaches further east are much more crowded. Everyone is up in arms about the bill or whenever something like that comes up, but in western CT, except for Milford, no one goes anyway.
You go to Darien beach midweek on a summer day, some days there's literally no one there, not a living soul around, maybe a couple of ladies playing paddle ball but that's about it.
On a non July 4 summer weekend you cruise the shoreline in a boat all the beaches are sparse. The Covid summer had more crowds but that since passed.
as of the past 2 summers, darien beaches have been pretty packed most days, families take the day off and buy a pass for the car and come on down
This bring to light another issue that I think is dumb, to say the least. Residents of Greenwich's Back Country and North Stamford get the preferential residents rates for the annual parking sticker at each town's beaches. However, while residents of Darien get the discounted rate for the sticker to park at Darien beaches, residents of New Canaan are charged the inflated non-residents rate?
PS. Yes, I know in many towns they did away with the actual sticker replaced with simply including the license plate in a digital database and the parking guard is able to tell with a handheld machine if a car paid for the season beach parking or not, if it belongs to a town's resident or non-resident, etc.
Why would members of another town get the resident rates for another town.. they literally aren't residents of the town that pays for the beach.
Why would members of another town get the resident rates for another town.. they literally aren't residents of the town that pays for the beach.
Like those of Killingworth with the beaches of Clinton?
The diatance between the beaches of Darien to New Canaan is probably not much different from the beaches of Stamford and North Stamford or of Greenwich and the Back Country starting with the Merrit Parkway area.
Like those of Killingworth with the beaches of Clinton?
The diatance between the beaches of Darien to New Canaan is probably not much different from the beaches of Stamford and North Stamford or of Greenwich and the Back Country starting with the Merrit Parkway area.
I'm going to be a history nerd for a minute.
After I made that reply I did a little research about why Killingworth has beach access. I couldn't come up with an exact answer, but I learned that Killingworth was the original town and it included what is now Clinton and all of Killingworth. The towns split in 1838. I would imagine that historic connection has something to do with the beach access policy.
Darien, on the other hand, was a parish that split off of Stamford. I couldn't find any real connection between the Darien and New Canaan.
Like those of Killingworth with the beaches of Clinton?
The diatance between the beaches of Darien to New Canaan is probably not much different from the beaches of Stamford and North Stamford or of Greenwich and the Back Country starting with the Merrit Parkway area.
Right, I was asking if you what the rationale was for allowing the access, not for examples of other towns that allow it.
if you're going off of distance, why shouldn't MA residents that are closer to beaches in CT than those in MA have access to the same discounts as CT residents for beaches?
I'm happy to say that we found a great house in Essex - walk to town, etc etc. The downside is that Essex really isn't a beach town. I did some searching for non-resident, seasonal beach passes at nearby towns and couldn't find much or info was contradictory. Can anybody comment on which towns (if any) offer seasonal, non-resident passes? I guess Old Saybrook, Lyme, Westbrook etc would be the main places of interest. Thanks in advance,
I live along the CT coast and to be really honest if you live in Essex your near the largest stretches of sand in Connecticut. While the town beaches in Old Saybrook, South Lyme, Westbrook are nice, with Rocky Neck Beach (about 10 min from you), Hammonasset State Beach (about 15 min from you), and even Ocean Beach (Waterford/New London) about 20 min from you, you'll have all the beach you need.
Another side note, I don't know if your new to the area, but they don't start charging until late May and they stop charging at some of the beaches by mid September. After that time (esp in late September- early Nov) the weather is nice, the water still warm, and there are far less people (kids back at school), and it's free..
Last edited by simonusa3; 04-01-2023 at 07:45 AM..
They never look like it from the water. Some people are congregated around the beach pavilions but the rest are large stretches of sparsely crowded beach area.
North Stamford and backcountry Greenwich aren't seperate towns while New Canaan is , and landlocked, so I didn't really get the point of that.
Trust me most in New Canaan don't care anyway, it's lint on the shoulder, they have Nantucket and St. Barths.
Much like Killingworth is directly north of Clinton, New Canaan is directly north of Darien. Killingworth has beach access in Clinton, but as I said in my followup, I think it's because they used to be one town. They are different towns now, but I think the shared history accounts for Killingworth beach access. Darien and New Canaan don't have a shared history.
But yeah, those New Canaanite don't give a rat's hindquarters.
I live along the CT coast and to be really honest if you live in Essex your near the largest stretches of sand in Connecticut. While the town beaches in Old Saybrook, South Lyme, Westbrook are nice, with Rocky Neck Beach (about 10 min from you), Hammonasset State Beach (about 15 min from you), and even Ocean Beach (Waterford/New London) about 20 min from you, you'll have all the beach you need.
Another side note, I don't know if your new to the area, but they don't start charging until late May and they stop charging at some of the beaches by mid September. After that time (esp in late September- early Nov) the weather is nice, the water still warm, and there are far less people (kids back at school), and it's free..
Hammonasset and Rocky Neck are state beaches. If you have a Connecticut license plate, access is free all year now. Jay
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